Orbital Test Vehicle: Reusable Spacecraft Ops

By Guy Norris
Colorado Springs

A U.S. Air Force Space Command flight test of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, scheduled to launch April 20 from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., atop an Atlas 501, will serve as an “on-orbit” demonstration of space vehicle technologies as well as pioneer reusable spacecraft operations.

Originally a NASA program, the X-37B’s exact mission has been increasingly cloaked in secrecy since it was taken over by the Air Force, which initially ...

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